As if Godzilla and Kong weren鈥檛 enough, director Adam Wingard unleashes a host of others in 鈥淕odzilla x Kong: The New Empire鈥 and lets the skyscrapers fall where they may.
The landscape, as a result, is so crowded it鈥檚 practically the monster equivalent of 鈥淥ppenheimer.鈥
Kong, you may remember, is dwelling in Hollow Earth; Godzilla is napping at the Colosseum. As long as they鈥檙e in separate corners, everything is OK.
Godzilla, however, gets up from his nap, stomps around Europe (making even more ruins in Italy and France) and senses there鈥檚 a Kong-frontation just waiting to happen.
Kong, meanwhile, has an infected tooth and needs help. We know this because Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) has a daughter (Kaylee Hottle) who can communicate with him via sign language. To set things straight, Andrews assembles a crew (including a conspiracy theorist and a gonzo veterinarian) and zips to Hollow Earth. Sure enough, Kong has a bad bite and another set of monster adversaries. When a battle hurts his arm, the vet (played by Dan Stevens) cooks up a Kong-sized Infinity Gauntlet glove (trademark pending) and gets the big ape moving.
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All sorts of creatures (prehistoric and otherwise) start checking in. The goal is to settle them and get to Godzilla. But who first? And when?
From left, Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall and Kaylee Hottle journey to see King Kong in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire."聽
All of the creatures (including one you鈥檝e heard plenty about but didn鈥檛 realize was so literal) cause trouble, sending all parts of the world into turmoil.
After they do their urgent care bit, the humans are fairly expendable. Still, they stick around to see what happens and give the girl plenty to translate.
While Godzilla makes his way to Kong we start calculating the insurance loss. In addition to ruining ruins in Europe, he levels pyramids in Egypt.
Kong isn鈥檛 as destructive (he just hangs from buildings) but he does have some nasty adversaries. If it鈥檚 Wingard鈥檚 goal to spin them off into other features, we鈥檙e in trouble. There are so many villains in 鈥淕odzilla x Kong鈥 it鈥檚 impossible for anyone to divide and conquer.
Thankfully, the film comes to an impasse and the special effects experts are on to something a little less taxing.
Godzilla and King Kong meet again in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire."聽
Interestingly, the effects in this film aren鈥檛 as good as the ones in the low-budget 鈥淕odzilla Minus One.鈥 The monsters look a bit halting. When in doubt, Wingard and company turn up the light.
鈥淕odzilla x Kong鈥 doesn鈥檛 have a strong script, either, and its work for the humans is marginal at best.
Still, if you're craving popcorn, this is your movie. It encourages binge-eating.
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The guardians of nature. The protectors of humanity. The rise of a new empire. #GodzillaXKong - Only in Theaters March 29.
The epic battle continues! Legendary Pictures’ cinematic Monsterverse follows up the explosive showdown of “Godzilla vs. Kong” with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence—and our own. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” delves further into the histories of these Titans and their origins, as well as the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.
Once again at the helm is director Adam Wingard. The film stars Rebecca Hall (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “The Night House”), Brian Tyree Henry (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Bullet Train”), Dan Stevens (“Gaslit,” “Legion,” “Beauty and the Beast”), Kaylee Hottle (“Godzilla vs. Kong”), Alex Ferns (“The Batman,” “Wrath of Man,” “Chernobyl”) and Fala Chen (“Irma Vep,” “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”).
The screenplay is by Terry Rossio (“Godzilla vs. Kong” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series) and Simon Barrett (“You’re Next”) and Jeremy Slater (“Moon Knight”), from a story by Rossio & Wingard & Barrett, based on the character “Godzilla” owned and created by TOHO Co., Ltd. The film is produced by Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric Mcleod, Thomas Tull and Brian Rogers. The executive producers are Wingard, Jen Conroy, Jay Ashenfelter, Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira.
Once again, Wingard is collaborating with director of photography Ben Seresin (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “World War Z”), production designer Tom Hammock (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “X,” “The Guest”), editor Josh Schaeffer (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Molly’s Game”), costume designer Emily Seresin (“The Invisible Man,” “Top of the Lake”). The composers are Tom Holkenborg (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) and Antonio Di Iorio (additional music on “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the “Sonic the Hedgehog” films).
Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Present a Legendary Pictures Production, A Film By Adam Wingard, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” It is slated for release nationwide only in theaters and IMAX on March 29, 2024 and beginning 27 March 2024 internationally, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures except in Japan, where the film will be distributed by Toho Co., Ltd and in mainland China, where it will be distributed by Legendary East.
